Looking for the best YouTube influencer marketing platforms to boost your brand? You’re in the right place! These tools help you discover qualified YouTube creators, manage collaborations, and track performance.
There’s no doubt that YouTube influencer marketing delivers huge returns. Based on statistics, 81% of brands prefer using YouTube for influencer campaigns tied with Facebook for the top ROI.
In this guide, we’ll dive into the top 10 YouTube influencer marketing platforms for small businesses or larger brands. Then, we’ll share some tips to help you find the best influencer marketing platform for YouTube. Read on!
Best YouTube Influencer Marketing Platforms
Our list includes 10 platforms for beginners and professionals in YouTube influencer marketing. We’ll dig deeper into each tool by exploring its features, pricing, pros, and cons.
1. Ainfluencer: Free YouTube Influencer Marketing Platform
Ainfluencer is our #1 pick for YouTube (and multi-platform) influencer marketing. As the world’s first 100% free DIY influencer marketplace, it connects brands with over 5M vetted influencers.
Ainfluencer Features
Ainfluencer is packed with many tools to streamline your campaigns:
- AI-Powered Matching: AI algorithms suggest perfect influencer matches based on your niche, audience, and campaign goals. You can use filters (location, category, follower count, etc.) and let the AI recommend the best YouTubers for your brand.
- Built-in Communications: An in-app chat inbox lets you message influencers directly, negotiate terms, and manage collabs in one place. No more back-and-forth emails! Everything is organized on the platform for efficiency.
- Global Reach via Video Translation: Unique video translation features make content accessible in multiple languages. This means a YouTube influencer’s video about your product can be auto-translated into 200+ languages.
- Trust & Transparency: Ainfluencer also provides detailed analytics and insights on each creator. You get real audience demographics, engagement rates, and even a quality score for content, pulled directly from the influencer’s social data. Plus, a public rating and review system shows you feedback from other brands, so you can vet creators thoroughly.
- Secure Escrow Payments: The platform includes an escrow payment system – you pay for campaigns upfront, but funds are held until the influencer delivers the agreed content.
- Campaign Management Tools: What’s more, you can create and manage unlimited campaigns with ease. Ainfluencer has an end-to-end CRM-style dashboard to handle everything from campaign briefs and influencer invitations to content approvals and tracking.
- Affiliate Program Integration: With this feature, you can generate unique coupon codes or links for each influencer. You can also track sales directly from influencer campaigns.
- Mobile App: One more thing, Ainfluencer is accessible via web and mobile app (iOS/Android), so you can manage campaigns or chat with creators on the go.
Ainfluencer Pricing
It’s free to use for both brands and influencers. The platform only takes a 20% commission from influencers.
Ainfluencer Pros
- It’s Completely Free: Unlike many big platforms that require long contracts or high prices, Ainfluencer charges no subscription or upfront cost for brands. You can post opportunities and invite or negotiate with influencers without platform fees.
- Huge Influencer Pool: It has a huge network of millions of YouTube influencers from nano to mega. The best part is that the influencers are all verified without fake followers.
- AI and Data-Driven: Smart matching and rich analytics save time finding quality creators.
- Safe and Transparent: The escrow payment and review system provides peace of mind. Both brands and creators are protected, which encourages honest collaboration.
- Unlimited Usage: Unlike many platforms that cap campaigns or messages on free plans, Ainfluencer allows unlimited campaigns, invites, and collaborations for free.
Ainfluencer Cons
- No Full-Service Option: Ainfluencer is a self-service marketplace. That’s ideal for DIY-minded marketers, but not for large brands wanting a fully managed service. That said, the platform’s simplicity and support resources make DIY pretty straightforward.
Ainfluencer’s User Reviews
- 4.2 (Trustpilot), 4.8 (G2).
Want to start your first influencer marketing campaign on YouTube for free?
2. YouTube BrandConnect
The second YouTube influencer marketing platform we’ll introduce is YouTube BrandConnect, YouTube’s official influencer marketing platform.
It directly connects brands with YouTube creators for sponsored content. Since it’s run by YouTube/Google itself, BrandConnect has unique access to YouTube’s data and infrastructure.
However, the platform is not open to everyone. In fact, it’s an invite-only program for eligible creators and select brands.
YouTube BrandConnect Features
- BrandConnect includes a large number of YouTube influencers, especially mid-tier to top creators who have opted in.
- Brands can share briefs with their target audience, goals, budget, and content type (like a shoutout or full video).
- It offers unique analytics through Google integrations, like tracking conversions and brand lift with tools such as Brand Lift surveys and Google Ads data.
- Through BrandConnect, Google handles the contracting and payment processing. Brands pay Google (as they would for an ad campaign), and Google pays the creator once the work is completed.
YouTube BrandConnect Pricing
It’s free to join, but Google earns a share through the ads.
YouTube BrandConnect Pros
- As the official platform, BrandConnect likely has the best data on YouTube influencer performance.
- Every creator in BrandConnect is verified by YouTube and you won’t encounter fake followers or engagement.
- It’s efficient for YouTube-only campaigns.
YouTube BrandConnect Cons
- It’s not a self-service open marketplace, meaning not everyone can use BrandConnect freely.
- BrandConnect often costs more since top creators charge higher fees and Google takes a cut.
- While you can suggest what you want, ultimately, you are limited to the creators of the program.
YouTube BrandConnect’s User Reviews
Unlike other YouTube influencer marketing platforms on our list, YouTube BrandConnect doesn’t have user reviews on platforms like Trustpilot.
However, you can find users’ experiences on forums like Reddit. Users have mentioned the following as its benefits:
- Auto-builds your media kit,
- Connects you with big-brand campaigns,
- Google handles the process, making it easier for creators and brands.
On the other hand, we can see different YouTube BrandConnect reviews. Some users have complained about limited opportunities in certain niches, challenges for small channels, and Google’s commission.
3. Upfluence
Upfluence is one of the leading YouTube influencer marketing platforms. It’s known for its powerful search engine and all-in-one influencer relationship management system.
The platform is good for mid-sized brands and agencies because it supports multi-platform campaigns (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, blogs, and more). Upfluence also integrates affiliate marketing features.
Upfluence Features
- Search through a database of nearly 3M influencers across major networks (including YouTube) by platform, location, audience size, engagement rate, niche, etc.
- AI assistant chatbot to auto-generate personalized outreach messages to influencers.
- Detailed data about YouTube influencers, including social metrics, audience demographics, engagement rates, and recent content.
- End-to-end campaign management to organize influencers into lists, send bulk emails, track responses, and manage content approvals.
Upfluence Pricing
It follows a custom pricing model typically requiring a minimum contract duration of 12 months. However, according to G2, Upfluence pricing starts at $478 per month.
Upfluence Pros
- Comprehensive toolset from discovery to tracking (search engine, outreach automation, workflow, and analytics).
- Strong search filters such as location, language, keywords, engagement rate, etc, for niche targeting.
- Free tools like the Chrome extension and limited free searches or influencer audits.
Upfluence Cons
- High cost for full features, an annual contract requirement, and no free trial.
- With so many features, new users may find the interface a bit overwhelming at first.
- The free search functionality (if you use it without a paid plan) only shows basic info
Upfluence’s User Reviews
- 4.4 (Trustpilot), 4.6 (G2).
4. GRIN
Designed for e-commerce businesses and direct-to-consumer brands, GRIN describes itself as the “#1 Creator Management Platform”.
It offers a full suite of tools to manage influencer programs at scale – from finding YouTube creators to product seeding, discount codes, content tracking, and sales attribution.
GRIN Features
- GRIN’s database covers 190M+ influencers on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, and more.
- It provides an influencer audience report with credibility scores to flag any fake engagement.
- The platform also integrates with e-commerce platforms (Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, etc.).
- Through GRIN’s platform, you can manage product gifting campaigns – select products, collect influencer shipping info via forms, and track what was sent to whom.
GRIN Pricing
Custom but according to reports, the pricing starts at $2.2K per month.
GRIN Pros
- Robust relationship to build a database of influencers who love your brand and nurture those partnerships over time.
- Scalability and managing hundreds of influencers using features like lookalike discovery and automated follow-ups.
- With conversions and sales data integrated, proving ROI becomes easier.
GRIN Cons
- GRIN’s pricing is not publicly disclosed. However, it’s reported to be high for smaller brands. It doesn’t offer free trials.
- To get the most value, you need to integrate GRIN into your workflow fully; another barrier for smaller teams.
- GRIN’s interface is professional but can be complex, with many modules to navigate (influencers, campaigns, content, etc.).
GRIN’s User Reviews
- 3.9 (Trustpilot), 4.5 (G2).
5. Aspire
Aspire (formerly known as AspireIQ) is a popular influencer marketing platform for YouTube. It’s good at fostering brand-influencer relationships and managing content workflows.
This tool is widely used by consumer brands and agencies to run influencer campaigns. Aspire is also known for its creator marketplace and robust campaign management tools.
Aspire Features
- Aspire offers a marketplace environment where brands can post campaign opportunities and influencers can apply.
- Beyond the marketplace, you can actively search Aspire’s database of influencers (over 6 million creators across platforms, per Aspire’s claims).
- You can create campaign briefs with specific requirements as well as keep track of tasks and deadlines.
- It has a CRM-like database where you can organize your influencers, mark favorites, and keep notes.
Aspire Pricing
It offers a custom pricing model. However, based on users’ reports on Capterra and other platforms, it starts at $2,499 per month, with an annual commitment.
Aspire Pros
- The platform is great for scaling campaigns, say, 50 YouTubers for a big product.
- Aspire’s focus on content and library makes it perfect for brands that want not just exposure but also content.
- Its design encourages ongoing partnerships and ambassador programs.
Aspire Cons
- It’s pricey for small businesses, without free trials. Besides, Aspire only offers annual plans.
- Applicants’ quality is under question and you may find many low-quality influencers in their pool.
- While Aspire’s basic use is straightforward, to use advanced features, you might need a bit of technical setup.
Aspire’s User Reviews
- 3.4 (Trustpilot), 4.6 (G2).
6. Captiv8
On the list of the top YouTube influencer marketing platforms, Captiv8 is a leading option. It’s an enterprise-grade influencer marketing platform with a focus on data analytics and AI.
Captiv8 is often praised for its ability to connect brands with influencers while providing rich data to measure impact.
Captiv8 Features
- Captiv8 uses AI to help identify the right influencers and analyze content, audience demographics, engagement authenticity, and even sentiment.
- A unique aspect of Captiv8 is its integration with paid media. After an influencer creates content, Captiv8 can help you boost that content through paid social ads.
- It tracks YouTube campaign performance like watch time and audience retention, if the creator has linked their account.
- The platform includes social listening tools to track hashtags, mentions, and trending topics.
Captiv8 Pricing
It’s custom-priced, around $2,000 per month (based on reports). It also requires a semi-annual contract without free trials.
Captiv8 Pros
- It’s suitable for large-scale, high-budget campaigns with dozens or hundreds of influencers.
- The integration of organic influencer content with paid advertising allows an influencer’s content to live longer and reach more people via ads.
- The platform provides dedicated account support to enterprise clients and can customize solutions.
Captiv8 Cons
- Captiv8’s custom (and high) pricing model is not what small businesses like.
- Smaller teams might find they underutilize the advanced features.
- Due to many features, working with Captiv8 requires some training.
Captiv8’s User Reviews
- 4.5 (Capterra), 4.7 (G2).
7. Creator.co
Creator.co (not to be confused with CreatorIQ) is a platform designed to connect brands with micro-influencers and content creators, including YouTubers.
It combines a marketplace model (where creators can join campaigns) with campaign management tools and even an affiliate marketing twist.
This tool is especially friendly for brands that want to run product seeding campaigns, get lots of user-generated content, or tap into nano and micro-influencers at scale.
Creator.co Features
- Creator.co boasts access to 300+ million social media profiles on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc by niche, platform, audience size, and more.
- One neat feature of Creator.co is its capability to run automated campaigns, particularly for product gifting.
- It also has a built-in affiliate system, allowing brands to easily generate referral links or discount codes for each influencer.
- The platform provides a dashboard for managing all participating influencers. Content like YouTube video links or social posts can be reviewed in one place.
Creator.Co Pricing
It starts from $460 per month, with a free trial.
Creator.Co Pros
- Creator.co is known for being user-friendly, and you can launch campaigns relatively quickly.
- It’s also affordable for small brands.
- The platform is great for micro-influencers and UGC.
Creator.Co Cons
- It might be less suitable for complex strategies and Large brands needing intricate campaign customization.
- The platform has basic vetting, but some influencers might not produce content up to your standards.
- It doesn’t offer deep insights like sentiment analysis on comments or multi-touch attribution.
Creator.Co’s User Reviews
- 3.00 (Trustpilot), 4.6 (G2).
8. Influencity
Influencity is one of the most comprehensive YouTube influencer marketing platforms, known for its enormous influencer database (200M+) and customizable campaign workflows.
It’s a Spain-based platform (with global reach) that offers a scalable, data-rich solution at a price point that’s accessible to a range of businesses.
Influencity Features
- With 200M+ profiles, you can find just about any type of influencer with 50+ filters.
- A detailed profile analysis, including follower/subscriber count, engagement metrics, audience demographics, growth trends, and content examples.
- Custom influencer lists & CRM so you can save favorite YouTubers to a list, add notes, and even collaborate with team members on these lists.
- After influencers publish content, you can input the posts or links into the platform or auto-track if the influencer connects to their account.
Influencity Pricing
It starts at $168/month with a 7-day free trial.
Influencity Pros
- It has a massive database of influencers(over 200M).
- It offers flexible pricing options with a free trial.
- The platform has an easy-to-use interface.
Influencity Cons
- It doesn’t have a built-in marketplace where influencers come to you or handle payments.
- While Influencity tracks campaigns, it doesn’t automate things like content approvals or chat with influencers.
- It’s primarily self-service, meaning you won’t get a dedicated account manager on lower-tier plans.
Influencity’s User Reviews
- 2.4 (Trustpilot), 4.6 (G2).
9. Sprout Social
Sprout Social Influencer Marketing (formerly Tagger Media) is an influencer marketing platform integrated within the larger Sprout Social ecosystem.
This solution is ideal for brands and agencies that want to manage their social media and influencer campaigns in one place.
It’s also suitable for those who want to benefit from advanced features like AI-driven influencer discovery and robust analytics.
Sprout Social Features
- AI “Affinity” search (an AI-powered discovery tool) to identify influencers based on brand affinity and audience psychographics.
- Smart influence matching to search for influencers by keywords, demographic filters, and more.
- Competitive benchmarks and social listening to show you what influencers your competitors are working with and how those campaigns are performing.
- Content health and vetting feature that compares influencers by analyzing their recent posts for engagement drops or audience sentiment.
Sprout Social Pricing
It starts at $249/month with a 30-day free trial.
Sprout Social Pros
- It offers an integrated solution. If you’re already using Sprout Social for social media management, adding the influencer module is seamless.
- The platform is data-rich and strategically oriented thanks to AI-based discovery and emphasis on brand fit.
- From discovery to outreach to tracking to reporting, Sprout’s influencer tool covers everything.
Sprout Social Cons
- If you’re not already a Sprout Social user, there’s a learning curve to the interface.
- If you only do occasional YouTube influencer collaborations, a big integrated platform might be more than you need.
- It’s a locked-in ecosystem. This means the influencer module isn’t typically sold standalone (it’s part of their platform).
Sprout Social’s User Reviews
- 2.9 (Trustpilot), 4.4 (G2).
10. Meltwater
Our next top solution for YouTube influencer marketing is created from the integration of Klear – a well-known influencer discovery tool – into Meltwater’s suite of social media listening and analytics software.
Meltwater is recognized for media monitoring and social intelligence. By acquiring Klear, it added a dedicated influencer marketing arm.
This combined solution is great for brands that want to use social data to inform their influencer strategies and maintain a pulse on what content works.
Meltwater Features
- Its database contains over 30 million influencers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, and even blogs.
- The platform allows you to segment influencers into lists for different campaigns or clients.
- With social listening capabilities, you can track a keyword or hashtag related to your brand or industry and see which YouTubers are mentioning it or creating content around it.
- The tool provides a CRM-like interface to keep notes on interactions with each influencer and keep a history of campaigns.
Meltwater Pricing
It starts from $12,000/Annual without any free trial.
Meltwater Pros
- It combines strong discovery with social listening. You not only find influencers by search but also by actual conversations happening on social media.
- It offers deep insights so you can quickly vet YouTubers for audience authenticity and content relevance.
- This tool emphasizes the quality of influencers. It can identify micro-influencers that have high engagement or very niche yet valuable audiences.
Meltwater Cons
- Meltwater’s solutions are typically annual. Smaller businesses might find it out of budget.
- Its interface isn’t as modern or intuitive as some newer standalone influencer tools.
- It mainly focuses on data, not on workflow (content approvals, chat, contract e-signing).
Meltwater’s User Reviews
- 4.00 (G2), 4.00 (Capterra).
What to Consider When Looking for YouTube Influencer Marketing Platforms?
YouTube influencer marketing is unique because of its video focus and audience behavior. Choosing the right platform can make your campaigns easier and more effective. Here are the key things to look for:
1. YouTube-Specific Influencer Database
Look for platforms with a large, up-to-date database of YouTube creators, not just general social media influencers.
2. Audience Analytics & Authenticity Checks
The platform should offer detailed audience data like demographics, location, interests, and real engagement metrics. More importantly, it should detect fake followers or bots.
3. Content Compatibility & Niche Relevance
Choose a platform that analyzes the creator’s content style, topics, and tone—beyond just numbers. This ensures the influencer’s channel aligns with your brand values and campaign goals.
4. Campaign Management Tools
Since YouTube campaigns often involve multiple steps—briefing, content review, approvals, payments—look for platforms with built-in tools for managing workflows easily.
5. Performance Tracking & ROI Measurement
The platform should also provide real-time or near-real-time metrics on views, watch time, click-through rates, and conversions.
6. Payment and Contract Handling
YouTube influencer marketing platforms that offer escrow services or handle contracts/payments streamline the process and protect both parties.
To Wrap Up
YouTube influencer marketing can feel overwhelming, but with the right platform and approach, it’s really worth it. We’ve checked out the 10 best YouTube influencer marketing platforms—from free options to full-featured tools—each with its own perks.
If we had to pick one top platform, it would be Ainfluencer. It’s free, has tons of YouTubers (and Instagram/TikTok creators), and offers smart tools plus secure payments.
For larger brands and agencies, Captiv8 and Meltwater can be better choices due to their advanced data analytics and enterprise-grade features.
Creator.co is an excellent option for micro-influencer campaigns and user-generated content. If you’re already using a social media management platform, Sprout Social is ideal.
Ready to elevate your influencer marketing on YouTube?
FAQ: YouTube Influencer Marketing Platforms
We’ve answered some FAQs about the top platforms for YouTube influencer marketing. Keep reading:
1. What Are Free YouTube Influencer Marketing Platforms for Brands?
Ainfluencer and YouTube BrandConnect are free platforms you can use for YouTube influencer marketing. Among them, Ainfluencer is the best option as YouTube BrandConnect is only limited to certain users who meet specific eligibility requirements set by YouTube.
2. How Much Do YouTube Influencers Cost on Influencer Marketing Platforms?
Influencer rates vary based on their subscribers, engagement, niche, and what you want. For example, big YouTubers with 500k–1M subs usually charge around $6,700 per video, mid-sized ones $1,000–$5,000, and smaller creators might do it for a few hundred or just free products.
3. What Are the Best YouTube Influencer Marketing Platforms for Small Brands?
Ainfluencer and Creator.co are the top YouTube influencer marketing platforms for small brands. Ainfluencer is a free, AI-driven platform with a vast influencer pool, secure payments, and robust campaign management tools.
Creator.co is affordable, user-friendly, and ideal for micro-influencers and user-generated content.
